Formula 1 Latest: Red Bull’s Webber and Vettel set the pace in Suzuka
Formula One racing stays in Asia after an eventful Singapore Grand Prix but moves a bit further east to sunny Japan. Friday’s practice session at Suzuka saw Red Bull come out all guns blazing.
Red Bull appear to be firm favourites after today’s practice sessions as they topped the timing sheets in both the practice sessions.
Sebastian Vettel finished 4/10th of a second faster than his team mate Webber, while Robert Kubica’s Renault was a further 4/10th of a second behind the Red Bull duo.
Lewis Hamilton had a woeful day as he cashed out of the first practice session and missed the second. However there is a rain forecast for Sunday’s race and Hamilton is a master of wet conditions.
During the first session in the morning, the weather was warm and dry and the fans enjoyed an action packed day.
The two Ferraris were the main interest of the day and after two consecutive top finishes fans were eager to know if they had what it takes to manoeuvre the difficult curves of the Suzuka track.
But Ferrari kept their pace hidden throughout the day and may well surprise all and sundry with another master class on Sunday.
Hamilton was also a star attraction of day as he has seen his chances slipping fast with two DNFs but he could only manage 9 laps in the second session after crashing into a tyre barrier in the first session.
McLaren’s engineers put in a frantic s**t to get his car back on track and he can still be considered lucky to get 9 laps in the second session as Vettel and Webber clocked the fastest laps on Friday with hard as well as soft tyres.
With just 30 minutes remaining in the end, Kubica was the third in the timings and Singapore GP champion Alonso and his Brazilian team mate Massa were fourth and fifth.
Jenson Button was also in with a chance in sixth place as his McLaren is still undergoing some tests.
The practice session ended with Vettel clocking the fastest lap time at 1.31.46 while Webber was a close second with a time of 1.32.20 seconds.
When Hamilton finally got out of the pits with his McLaren repaired there were only 8 minutes remaining on the clock and with soft tyres he had to run for five laps with a heavy fuel load as his engineers accumulated some data
and his fastest effort was still over 2 seconds behind Vettel in 13th place.
And with Alonso also almost a second off pace, McLaren are not the only team who will be sweating for a result come Sunday.
However with rain forecasted on Sunday, Vettel has warned his competitors that his car is more than capable of beating everyone in wet conditions and with him setting the early pace not many can doubt him.
While Lewis Hamilton, who is in desperate need of a win, said that he perhaps tried too hard too soon and paid the price - but the Brit is still confident that he can finish among the points in Japan after crashing out of the last
two races.
His compatriot, Jensen Button, also survived a scare as he was following Lewis very closely but avoided any crash.
The race on Sunday promises to be an action packed thrill-a-minute ride with a lot depending on the weather conditions to decide the winner. Although Red Bull have set the early pace, after crashing out of the last two races and
languishing in third place in the driver’s standings, Lewis Hamilton is a wounded tiger and cannot be ruled out. Neither too, can the Ferrari duo of Alonso and Massa.
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